The related disclosures incorporated herein by reference teach the advantages of allocating resources within a communications system to facilitate access to generic information by users whose types of terminals and interconnecting links have diverse requirements as to format and/or medium. In accordance with these references, resources are allocated to make stored information format- and/or medium-compatible with a wide variety of remote terminal types and interconnecting links. This brings about resource efficiency, obviating the need to have many redundant resources, as is usually encountered in the art, wherein each individual resource might be compatible with only one communication format and/or medium.
An example of an environment enabling such user device-independent access to generic information is disclosed in the above referenced U.S. patent application SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS FORMATS. This disclosure is abstracted herein for illustrative background purposes. With reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that a plurality of terminal devices 20A through 20G may be connected to Interactive Information Response Unit ("IIRU") 30 via a plurality of interconnecting links 40A through 40G. Exemplary terminal devices illustrated on FIG. 1 are: conventional telephone (20A), fax machine (20B), standard desktop computer (20C), multimedia desktop computer (20D), enhanced telephone with display (20E), home entertainment center (20F), and cellular/wireless telephone (20G). Other terminal devices not illustrated may include a personal communications system (PCS), a hearing impaired terminal, or a pager.
Similarly, it will be understood that interconnecting links 40A through 40G may be one of several types of link of varying speed and bandwidth, and may be independent of the type of terminal device to which they connect. Examples of such types of interconnecting links include POTS lines, ISDN lines, T1 lines, fiber optic lines, and, as illustrated in item 40G, a partial wireless link. Modems, data compression resources and other data conversion devices operating in terminal devices 20A through 20G, where applicable, may also affect the speed and bandwidth of a particular interconnecting link
The information to be exchanged with terminal devices 20A through 20G is advantageously stored in generic form on information resource 70, which in turn is in data communication with IIRU 30. IIRU 30 comprises ports 31 through which terminal devices 20A through 20G connect to IIRU 30. Switch 32 within IIRU 30 enables resources 33 to be allocated to terminal devices through ports 31 so as to enable terminal devices 20A through 20G to communicate with information resource 70 regardless of individual terminal type format or medium requirements.
Once the appropriate resources 33 have been allocated, said resources 33 then adapt generic information available from information resource 70 into formats compatible with pending communications, so that terminal devices 20A through 20G may exchange information with information resource 70.
The architecture described on FIG. 1 thus provides users with more format- and/or medium-compatible access to generic information. There is now a need for a transaction model that will organize and deliver the generic information to users with diverse types of terminal devices.
For example, in a modern day environment of multimedia communications, it would naturally be advantageous to be able to deliver the information in all the media supported by the user's terminal type and/or deliverable through the interconnecting link. In the past, however, a programmer has typically had to develop multiple and entirely separate (although analogous) applications programs, each enabling a similar sequence of transactions between the user and a body of generic information, but each tailored to complete by different hardware specifications, or to a different set of media supported by a particular type of terminal. As a result, the programmer must write a separate application to support each type of environment encountered. A given transaction might thus have to be coded repeatedly, once or more in each separate application, each time in a different format so as to be media-compatible with the environment for which the application is being written. For example, a programmer seeking to communicate a simple bank balance from a database of generic information might have to write one application for communication with a telephone in which the information is in digitized sound ("WAV") format, a second program for communication with a PC over a slow modem line in which the information is in ASCII format, a third program for faster PC communication with the information in multimedia format (including graphics and sound), a fourth program for communication with a fax machine in fax format, a fifth program for communication with a hearing impaired device, and so on.
It will be readily appreciated that when applied to information structure in which numerous information exchanges, or "transactions", between user and system are integrated, the above-described programming methodology leads to considerable redundancy. A need therefore exists for a user device-independent transaction model that will allow programmers to design flows of information independent of the user device or the media in which the information is to be delivered. Once the basic transaction flow is established in user device-independent form, it would then be advantageous to be able to deliver the information in device-dependent form, i.e. the format and/or media required by the user's terminal device.